Talan Owens sat straight up in bed covered in a cold sweat. He surveyed his surroundings, confused to find himself in a dimly lit apartment. There was no flagship, no Jedi. No Revan.
A dream. It was just a dream. But it had felt so real. He closed his eyes and tried to calm his breathing, but the dream was still fresh in his mind. Why the hell was he dreaming about Revan anyway? He stood up and closed his eyes against the wave of dizziness that came over him.
He took several deep breaths, trying to chase away the unpleasant sensation. Once he was sure he would not be violently sick, he slowly opened his eyes again, taking a closer look at his surroundings. He was in a dark, dingy and seemingly abandoned apartment. A thick layer of dust coated the floor, swirling around Talan's feet as he walked. The furniture was ancient and worn; large holes and sinister stains covered nearly every inch of the couch and armchairs. The large table in the middle of the room was lopsided, sporting numerous scratches and scorch marks across the surface.
His vibroblades were laid neatly on the slanted table next to his blasters, though he had no recollection of how they has gotten there.
Where am I?
The doors to the apartment hissed open, causing Talan to nearly jump out of his skin. For all of his wondering, it never occurred to him that he was not alone. A scruffy looking man entered the apartment, wearing a serious expression and a tattered looking jacket that was a most unfortunate shade of orange. He had the haunted look of a man who had seen too many battles, and lost more that could be expressed. But he had a kind smile and spoke in a friendly tone.
"Good to see you up instead of thrashing around in your sleep. I was worried you were never going to wake up."
"Who are you?" Talan asked. His voice was hoarse from lack of use and slight dehydration.
"I'm Carth, I was the one with you in the escape pod. Don't you remember?"
A rush of memories came flooding back at his words; the Endar Spire being attacked by the Sith. Fighting his way through the cruiser with his bunk mate, Trask. Encountering a dark Jedi and watching as his companion threw himself into the battle so that he could escape.
Talan felt a pang of guilt as he recalled the sacrifice that Trask had made.
"Right, I remember. Where are we?"
"Well you've been slipping in and out of consciousness for a few days now so I imagine you're pretty confused."
"We've been here for days?" Talan asked.
"You took a hell of a smack to the head when the pod crashed. I'm surprised you're still in one piece."
Crashed. That would explain the throbbing in my head.
"You were out cold when we landed," Carth continued. "But luckily I wasn't seriously hurt. I manged to drag you away before the Sith showed up and started asking too many questions."
Talan tried to wrap his head around everything, but trying to process it all only managed to make his head pound painfully. He managed a small smile that he hoped would pass for genuine. "I guess I should thank you then."
"There's no need to thank me, I've never abandoned anyone on a mission and I'm not about to start now. Besides, I'm going to need your help to get off this planet. I read in your service records that you understand a large number of alien languages, that's pretty rare. But it will come in handy if we hope to find Bastila and escape the Sith."
Bastila. Of course, she was the one in charge of the Spire. Talan had met her only once during his short stint on the doomed warship, a short encounter he had no desire to repeat. She had treated him will ill-disguised hostility that had both confused and annoyed Talan who had done nothing to provoke the woman. It was a shame that her physical beauty was wasted on someone who had the charming quality of an air sick Wookiee.
"I think we should check the cantinas first," Carth said fastening his blasters to his belt. "We need to keep a low profile, so it might be a good idea to ask some of the more intoxicated locals. They won't remember much about what we talked about anyway. Besides, I don't know about you but I could sure use a drink."
Talan grinned and nodded in agreement. He grabbed his own blasters, attaching them to his belt securely. His blades he fastened to his back in a criss-crossed fashion.
"It's rare to see someone who can use two blades," Carth said impressed. "Where did you learn to fight like that?"
Talan opened his mouth to respond, but stopped when his memory seemed to fail him. "I, uh, I don't remember."
Carth shrugged. "Probably just a side effect of the crash. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be back to normal in no time."
Talan nodded stiffly, and turned to follow Carth out of the apartment.
They immediately found trouble as soon as they entered the hall; two Duros were being harassed by a Sith soldier and his droid companions. One of them made a comment about the Sith being overbearing and was immediately shot down. The Sith looked over to the other Duros and smiled cruelly as he raised his blaster to his head. A loud shot echoed through the hall and the Sith fell to the floor with a soft thud. Talan put his blaster back on his belt and turned to Carth. "So much for keeping a low profile."
The stunned Duros looked at them and then looked at the fallen Sith. "I thank you for your aid human. If you had not intervened I would surely be dead."
"Won't the Sith come looking for the body?"
The Duros shook his head and kicked the body lying on the floor. "Don't worry about that, I will take care of the body. Nobody will ever find it."
"That can't be a good omen." Said Carth as they left the apartment complex and stepped out onto the street. "I have a feeling things aren't going to get any easier."
"Then we better hurry up and figure out a way to get out of here before we draw too much attention to ourselves."
They made their way to the cantina with little trouble. They were approached by a group of drunken men but after offering to buy them a drink to avoid confrontation, they quickly left. They entered the cantina and were met with the smell of liquor and stale smoke. The noise level was almost unbearable; the music was so loud that people had to shout just to be heard.
Well we won't have to worry about being overheard.
They made their way through the crowd and noticed a large number of people gathered around a view screen. Two men were fighting in an arena, one seemed to have trouble holding the blaster, while the other seemed to be confused about which way to even point the blaster. The confused one fumbled and dropped the blaster, before being hit three times squarely in the chest by his opponent.
Both cheers and groans came from the crowd as the man was carried away on a stretcher. Several moments later, the winner came through the massive doors on the right and bowed as he was met with applause from the crowd. Talan paid no attention, he was more interested in the Hutt who had been watching him very closely ever since he arrived. The Hutt beckoned with his hand, if you could even call it a hand, for him to come closer.
Nothing ever good comes from dealing with a Hutt.
He approached cautiously, he usually tried to avoid these creatures.
"Greetings human, my name is Ajuur. I have not seen you around here before and I can tell you are no ordinary traveler." He gestured to Talan's muscular frame. "I have a proposition for you if you are interested.
This should be interesting.
"What kind of proposition?"
Ajuur made a strange noise that could either be a laugh or a cough. "I run the dueling ring here on Taris. I am always looking for new blood to enter the ring and you have the look of a duelist about you. If you are interested I can arrange for you to fight in the ring. Not to the death unfortunately, death matches were outlawed years ago. You will of course be paid, but only if you win."
Talan looked at Carth who nodded. "It might be a good idea we could use the credits later on."
He turned back to Ajuur. "All right, I'm in."
The hutt laughed again. "Excellent. My other duelists have been pestering me for new faces, they will be eager to face you. Now, we need to think of a name for you, something that will really hook the crowd. Good names mean more bets and more money for me. Let's see nobody knows you here so I'll call you the Mysterious Stranger."
Carth snickered behind him and Talan shook his head.
No point in arguing with a Hutt.
"I'll take it."
"Excellent. If you're ready I can arrange for you to fight Ice. Normally I would start you of a little easier but Dead-eye Duncan is recovering and Gerlon is off celebrating with one of the dancers. Besides, you look like you can handle yourself."
Talan nodded and grinned slightly. "Let's do it."
Talan stood in the middle of dueling ring waiting for the duelist called IceTo step into the arena. He didn't like the idea of having to fight a woman, but from what he heard of her she was quite able to handle herself. Besides he needed the credits. He might have to bargain with someone to get information later.
Loud cheers came up from the crowd as Ice entered on the opposite end of the arena. He was surprised at how young was, she couldn't have been more than twenty.
A kid?
He sighed. Oh well, it wasn't like he had much of a choice. They both walked forward to the center of the ring and shook hands. He was surprised at how strong she was, he might have had the wrong first impression of her.
"Don't take it easy on me, Stranger," Ice's voice was hard. It was obvious why she had earned the name. "Gentlemen aren't my type. Besides, I have been itching for new blood, these other challengers get so boring."
He grinned. "Shame. I do like a woman who is feisty."
"You have a better chance of wooing Ajuur, Stranger."
The buzzer announced the start of the match. Talan drew his blades and barely managed to block as Ice swung her Echani blade up with a speed that surprised him. His wrists stung at the impact, causing him to grimace slightly. She backed away and they began circling each other slowly, each waiting for the other to make a move.
He brought one of his blades around which she blocked easily. She used her body to push him back and drew a smaller knife from her belt, flinging it expertly towards him. The blade found its mark, lodging itself into his shoulder. He grunted in pain as the crowd roared their approval for Ice. He pulled the knife out and threw it to the side as blood ran down his arm. He looked over at her and saw she was grinning. So, she wanted to play dirty? All right then. He ran toward her spinning his blades in deadly circles. She side stepped, barely managing to block the attack, but the force of the impact knocked both their blades out their hands.
She immediately dropped into an Echani stance, eliciting cheers the crowd. Ajuur had warned of this, apparently she was quite the unarmed fighter. But he was not unfamiliar with the Echani fighting style. He had learned it from...well, he wasn't sure where he had learned it. But no matter, he was experienced in it. He mimicked her stance and they bowed to each other. The crowd went wild; apparently they enjoyed this just as much as vibroblades and blasters. They ran at each other, their fists colliding with a sound that echoed throughout the arena.
They fought in the ancient Echani style, with fists and arms. Every time one of them landed a hit the crowd would cheer and whistle. They fought fiercely for several rounds but soon they both grew weary. He was sweating and breathing hard, and he could see she was starting to wear down.
Time to end this. He dodged one of her attacks, dropping to one knee and rolling to the side. He took one of his blasters off his belt and fired two shots directly into her stomach. They found their mark and she fell to her knees in pain. She stared at him for a moment before giving the sign of surrender. The crowd was stunned, Ice rarely lost, let alone surrender. The buzzer sounded again and the announcer declared Talan the winner. He walked over to Ice, offering her his hand which she brushed aside.
"I told you Stranger, gentlemen aren't my type."
"Consider it showing mercy to a defeated opponent."
Ice stood up, grimacing in pain. "I don't need anyone's mercy. But I have to hand it to you Stranger, that was the best duel I have had since Twitch snatched the title of champion away from me. I guess Ajuur knew what he was doing when he recruited you." With that she turned away and left the arena as the crowd sent up thunderous applause.
Talan entered the cantina about an hour later. It had taken him a while to make his way through the crowd because people kept stopping him and telling him what a great duel it was. After receiving payment from Ajuur he turned to leave, but paused as he noticed Ice sitting at a table in the far corner. He approached her and sat across from her. She did not look pleased at the interruption.
"Did you come to gloat stranger? Or perhaps you hope that by buying me a drink you can persuade your way to my bedroom? I told you before, you have a better chance with Ajuur."
Talan shook his head. "I'm not here to gloat and I have no intention of trying to seduce you. I only hoped to ask you about the Undercity."
"You bested me in the ring and all you want is information? You are an odd one Stranger. Very well, I shall humor you for a moment."
"I need information about the Undercity, about the escape pods that crashed there."
"Escape pods? From the space battle a few days ago? That was a Republic ship, and I am no fan of the Sith. So, you can imagine my hesitation at telling you anything."
Talan nodded. "I was on that ship. We were attacked by the Sith and we barely managed to get away. Our commanding officer was on another escape pod that landed on this planet, and we need to find her if we hope to get out off this rock."
"You were on the ship? So you are a fugitive then. Not so mysterious after all it would seem."
Talan chose his next words carefully. "If you figured out who we are so quickly then it's only a matter of time before the Sith find out." His words held a dark undertone, an unspoken promise of what would happen if the Sith found them before they found Bastila.
Ice stared at them for a moment before answering. "There were two escape pods that crashed in the Undercity a few days ago. A street gang calling themselves the Black Vulkers swooped in captured the soldiers that were inside. I don't know much beyond that, only that whoever you are looking for is prisoner to a bunch of scum bags."
"Do you know how I can get to the Lower City?"
"You are actually looking to go down there? You are either brave or stupid Stranger. I don't know why you would go through so much danger to rescue one of your own, even if it is a commanding officer."
For reasons that he could not understand, Talan knew that he could trust this woman. She was rough and abrasive, but she seemed honest in her dislike of the Sith. Besides, he needed all the information he could get from her. "The commanding officer is a Jedi Knight. She has a rare gift that is critical to the war effort. If we do not rescue her then the Republic has no chance of winning."
Ice featured darkened slightly. "This Jedi, would her name happen to be Bastila?"
Talan and Carth looked at each other. "You know her?"
Ice's face hardened. "You could say that. She is my sister."